Mustafizur Rahman
Mustafizur Rahman. Image- AFP

On Friday, April 9th, the Bangladesh Cricket Board named a 21-man preliminary squad for the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka. The two Asian teams will face off each other in a 2-Test match series in Pallekele from April 21 to May 3.

Bangladesh has called 3 uncapped pacers in Shoriful Islam, Mukidul Islam Mugdho, and Shohidul Islam to the 21-member squad, while batting all-rounder Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury makes his return to the setup after 5 years. Along with Chowdhury, Nurul Hasan, and Khaled Ahmed are also given re-calls to the Test squad.

Three players – Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, and Hasan Mahmud – are been dropped after being part of the squad in the Test series against West Indies at home, which Bangladesh lost 2-0.

Shakib-Al-Hasan, Bangladesh
Shakib-Al-Hasan has opted to play IPL and miss the Test series against Sri Lanka. Image Credits: Twitter

Superstar all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan has opted out of the Test tour as he will participate in the 14th edition of the Indians Premier League (IPL) – the all-rounder will feature for the Kolkata Knight Riders after he was given a NOC by the board, but not before being involved in a controversy. Mustafizur Rahman, too, returns to the IPL as he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals.

This series is the postponed series from July last year. While Bangladesh lost to West Indies at home, so did Sri Lanka, to England, when Joe Root swept and swept them to a 2-0 whitewash.

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3-Day mandatory room quarantine, 2-day training in quarantine for Bangladesh players

Additional bowlers will be sent as the home board will not provide any net bowlers for practice sessions. The players will arrive in Colombo on April 12th, and then will be transferred to Negombo for mandatory room quarantine from 12 to 14; for the next couple of days, the players will be allowed to train while in quarantine.

West Indies
Kraigg Brathwaite led West Indies to Test series victory in Bangladesh. Image-Twitter

There will be an Inter-Squad Warm-Up amongst the Bangladesh players on 17 and 18 after which the final squad will be announced. They will play a 2-day Practice match before the first Test, and another 2-day Practice game ahead of the second Test. On May 4, the entire contingent will leave for home.

”We have decided to take the preliminary squad to Sri Lanka as it would help our preparation and also give exposure to a number of players who are in our thinking for the longer version going forward. The squad for the Test series will be announced after our inter-squad warm up game,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin said in a release.

Bangladesh preliminary Test squad:

Mominul Haque (C), Litton Kumer Das, Md Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal Khan, Shadman Islam, Abu Jayed Chowdhury Rahi, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Mohammed Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Shoriful Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Mukidul Islam Mugdho, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury, Shohidul Islam, Quazi Nurul Hasan Sohan.

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